I wasn't able to seize as much time for forging Scouting Reports in the 2013 NFL Draft Season as I would've liked, as a result of which I simply ran out of time to wax poetic on several Prospects that I would've loved to've spent enough time on to add my Perspective about...And I have subsequently been startled and delighted to see that my own beloved Patriots have enlisted the Services ~ fleeting, in one such case ~ of not one but four UFA's whose Potential, in my deliriously unqualified opinion, far exceed their Market Values ~ SuperSleepers, if you will.

As such, I hope I'll be forgiven for taking the liberty of retroactively writing a couple of'm up!!

FB Kenbrell Thompkins ~ Cincinnati

BearCats ~ 6006/192

Regarding Flankers

Flankers ~ or FlankerBacks ~ for those who don't know and are interested in knowing ~ are the "Wide Receivers" who line up a step or two off the Line of Scrimmage on one end or the other ~ hence the term "Flanker."

They tend to be smaller than the Split End though usually larger than the SlotBack, if there is one.

And they're actually considered "Backs" ~ like HalfBacks or FullBacks...or QuarterBacks!! ~ which I find rather cool.

*Please do note, though: Schematically, the Flanker is whoever lines up as the Flanker...But for the purposes of these Scouting Reports, I am applying this NomenClature to those who are Flankers by trade, so to speak: Those whose Skills Sets apply best to that particular Job Description. What their Coaches might do with them, once they're drafted, is another matter all together. Ditto, the Split Ends and SlotBacks. In any case, many play multiple Roles.

The most compelling Attributes of a Flanker are, in my view, and in no particular order:

He grew up on The Streets, got drawn deeply into its Darkness, came within an Ace of destroying his entire Future...and then came back from that brink, started building his Life, built up some Momentum, and arrives today as nothing less than a phenomenal Flanker Prospect.

Far from Red Flagging this kid, it seems to me that if you actually have the Capacity to evaluate Human Beings, what we have, here, in young Thompkins, is a kid who ~ though he got arrested a staggering seven times by the time he was 18 ~ has evolved, over the last few Years, not only into a successful Reclamation Project but an extraordinary young man. Not only do I have no worries what so ever about him being tempted by The Dark Side ~ precisely because he's been there and done that and is Battle Hardened & Battle Wise ~ but I would aggressively seek out Prospects with his remarkable resume, because they ~ who speak "Street" Fluently, and have in fact conquered their Ghosts ~ are precisely who the legions of Borderline Gangsters need to listen to.

And as a Prospect...

He is adept or better ~ in most cases: far better ~ at all Aspects of this Great Game, he's continuing to rapidly improve in all regards, he's a natural Leader, a tremendous TeamMate, and he's got a voracious Work Ethic.

I don't give a rat's @$$ about the Past he's quite clearly left long behind him.